Americans United - David Hamiltonhttps://au.org/tags/david-hamilton
enJeff Sessions Is No Fan Of Separation Of Church And Statehttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jeff-sessions-is-no-fan-of-separation-of-church-and-state
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be attorney general. The attorney general serves as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, responsible for upholding our nation’s laws. Many view Sen. Sessions as a troubling choice, including those of us who fight for religious freedom.</p>
<p>Let’s start with the basics. Sessions lacks respect for the constitutional principle of church-state separation, which he <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BM2QAgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT98&amp;lpg=PT98&amp;dq=sessions+a+recent+thing+that+is+unhistorical&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=GQxrgvX5my&amp;sig=9PhIhwTRu3pVc791-2fB05e6WTU&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj5kf3TkbrQAhVIziYKHR3tCYQQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=sessions%20a%20recent%20thing%20that%20is%20unhistorical&amp;f=false">has called</a> an “extra-constitutional doctrine” and “a recent thing that is unhistorical and unconstitutional.” But we know that separation of church and state is the foundation of our nation’s policy of freedom of religion. It is because the Constitution guarantees that the government can’t favor religion over non-religion or prefer any one faith that we can freely choose our beliefs.</p>
<p>As a result of his alarming views, Sessions played <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/cross-purpose-senate-hopes-mt-soledad-bill-will-preserve-sectarian-war">a key role</a> in keeping a 29-foot cross on display on government property in Southern California and <a href="https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/church-state-watchdog-group-denounces-senate-resolution-on-ten-commandments">sponsored a resolution</a> in the Senate encouraging the display of the Ten Commandments at government facilities, including courthouses.</p>
<p>He <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/september-2001-church-state/au-bulletin/september-2001-au-bulletin">rebuked</a> then Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) because Leahy swore in witnesses without requiring them to use the phrase “So help me, God.” Sessions remarked, “Ninety-five percent of the people believe in God. An invocation of His name, in conjunction with the seriousness of telling the truth, has an importance beyond mere legal requirement.”</p>
<p>And he <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-trump-reportedly-appoints-pro-life-sen.-jeff-sessions-as-attorney">has even attacked</a> the core principle of secular government, stating, “We are at a period of secularization in America that I think is very dangerous, it erodes the very concept of truth, the very concept of right and wrong, and there are people out there who enjoy attacking people who follow biblical directives.”</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Justice%20Dept.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 445px;" /></p>
<p><em>Sen. Jeff Sessions seems unlikely to promote justice for all. </em></p>
<p>Second, Sessions would likely struggle to ensure the law applies to everyone fairly. For example, in June, Sessions voted against a resolution stating opposition to banning individuals from entering the country based on their religion. And he claimed that Trump’s proposed immigration policy that would ban Muslims from entering the country is “biblical,” remarking, “So the idea that nations don’t set laws, establish who can and can’t enter, is not biblical in my opinion. Nations do that and they’ve done it since time immemorial and there’s nothing wrong with it.”</p>
<p>Sessions even believes in applying religious tests to our Supreme Court Justices. He has implied that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/07/24/sen-jeff-sessions-justice-sonia-sotomayor-isnt-religious-enough-to-do-her-job-well/">isn’t religious enough</a> to do her job. (Sotomayor is Catholic.) He seems to think secularism as applied to government is a bad thing. (He voted against confirming both Sotomayor and Elena Kagen. He also voted against confirming Judge David Hamilton to an appellate court in part because of Hamilton’s strong record on church-state separation.)</p>
<p>Our concerns don’t end there. In 2003, Sessions <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/november-2003-church-state/people-events/gay-marriage-may-be-religious-rights-wedge">called for an amendment</a> barring marriage equality. At a press conference, Sessions remarked, “In my view, it is incontestable that marriage is a valuable thing. The formal definition of marriage as we’ve understood it for so many years is the union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony.” When the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality in 2015, Sessions called the ruling “unconstitutional.”</p>
<p>And, in the Senate, Sessions has voted for voucher plans that would funnel taxpayer money to private sectarian schools.</p>
<p>Anyone who thought that Trump might moderate now that he’s headed to the White House needs to think again. The Sessions nomination is a sign of what we’re going to have to deal with: a far-right administration that has no respect for the constitutional principle of church-state separation that has served our nation so well. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/executive-nominations">Executive Nominations</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sen-jeff-sessions">Sen. Jeff Sessions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-justice-department">U.S. Justice Department</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sonia-sotomayor">sonia sotomayor</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/elena-kagen">Elena Kagen</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-hamilton">David Hamilton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/patrick-leahy">Patrick Leahy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/supreme-court">Supreme Court</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mount-soledad">Mount Soledad</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments">ten commandments</a></span></div></div>Mon, 21 Nov 2016 16:57:19 +0000Rob Boston12485 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/jeff-sessions-is-no-fan-of-separation-of-church-and-state#commentsFull Court Press: It's Time To Stop The Right Wing's Efforts To Block Judge Nomineeshttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/full-court-press-its-time-to-stop-the-right-wings-efforts-to-block-judge
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Our country is ill-served when there are vacancies on the federal bench. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>As president, one of Barack Obama's most important tasks is making appointments to the federal courts.</p>
<p>The Senate has a role to play too. They are to "advise and consent." If a judicial appointee is deemed unqualified, a majority of the Senate can vote him or her down.</p>
<p>Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Senate performed its role. Sotomayor, who had a long record of judicial service, now sits on the nation's top bench.</p>
<p>But the Supreme Court, while it gets a lot of attention, is just one facet of our federal court system. The lower courts are important too. Most cases, after all, never make it to the Supreme Court. (The high court hears fewer than 2 percent of all the cases appealed to it.)</p>
<p>How are Obama and the Senate doing with the lower courts? Not so well. <em>The Washington Post</em> reports today that there are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101504083.html">90 vacancies</a> in the federal court system, and Obama has forwarded nominees for just 23.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Senate is dragging its feet on those already nominated. Obama's first choice for the federal appeals courts, David Hamilton of Indiana, was nominated in March and has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has yet to receive a vote in the full Senate.</p>
<p>What's the hold-up? The Religious Right and its right-wing Senate allies don't like the fact that Hamilton, as a lower court judge, issued an opinion striking down sectarian invocations in the Indiana House of Representatives. They also dislike an abortion-related ruling he issued.</p>
<p>No one argues that Hamilton is unqualified. He is a distinguished jurist, a graduate of Yale Law School and a Fulbright Scholar. He has served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for 15 years.</p>
<p>Opposition to Hamilton is driven by ideology. Some Religious Right groups and activists don't like Hamilton's rulings and have urged senators to use procedural ploys to slow his nomination.</p>
<p>Ironically, these same organizations protested loudly when Democrats were supposedly holding up judicial nominees during the presidency of George W. Bush.</p>
<p>Our country is ill-served when there are vacancies on the federal bench. The courts face a backlog already, and a lack of judges only exacerbates the problem. Obama won the election; he gets to name the judges. That's the way the system works.</p>
<p>Obama needs to step up the pace of qualified nominees, and the Senate needs to start confirming them.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-hamilton">David Hamilton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/federal-courts">Federal courts</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/courts">In the Courts</a></span></div></div>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:06:23 +0000Rob Boston2031 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/full-court-press-its-time-to-stop-the-right-wings-efforts-to-block-judge#commentsThe First 100 Days: President Obama's Scorecard On Church And Statehttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-first-100-days-president-obamas-scorecard-on-church-and-state
<a href="/about/people/joseph-l-conn">Joseph L. Conn</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Obama has already fixed many federal government policies that were put in place to placate the Religious Right and other sectarian pressure groups.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>I guess it's a little impertinent for me to issue a report card for President Barack Obama on his performance during his first 100 days in office. I'm not his teacher, and he's not my student.</p>
<p>But what the heck? It's a free country and everyone else is doing it. So here goes.</p>
<p>I'm focusing on issues with church-state implications. Somebody else can tackle the other topics.</p>
<p>Tax Aid to Religious Schools: A-<br />
Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have expressed their clear opposition to voucher subsidies for religious and other private schools and their support for a strong public school system. This is a sharp contrast to the Bush administration, which lobbied relentlessly for vouchers, imposed a<a href="http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/14654/Bush_Hails_DC_Vouchers_at_Catholic_School.html"> voucher scheme</a> on the District of Columbia and even held a l<a href="http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/education/whschoolsummit/index.html">ast-minute conference</a> to push for a government bail-out of financially troubled inner-city Catholic schools.</p>
<p>Obama gets the minus here only because the administration has indicated it may support continued funding for students currently enrolled in the District's voucher plan. My advice to the president: Ignore the obsessive Washington Post editorial page and its right-wing public-school-hating allies and shut the thing down. Administration attention should be focused on improving D.C.'s public school system where the vast majority of District children are enrolled.</p>
<p>Opposition to Theocracy: A<br />
Obama has taken dramatic steps – both real and symbolic -- to rescue America from the far-right theocratic influences that ran rampant during the Bush administration. The new president has <a href="http://blog.au.org/2009/04/07/celebrating-the-secular-obama-says-us-is-not-a-christian-nation-2/">publicly affirmed</a> that the United States is not a "Christian nation" (or a "Jewish nation" or a "Muslim nation") but rather a nation built on individual freedom of conscience. He has even made positive references to non-believers! Gasp.</p>
<p>Obama has already fixed many federal government policies that were put in place to placate the Religious Right and other sectarian pressure groups. For example, he <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/International/story?id=6716958&amp;page=1">overturned </a>the Mexico City policy and took other steps to ensure reproductive rights, he dramatically <a href="http://news.aol.com/main/obama-presidency/article/obama-stem-cell-policy/374347">changed</a> stem-cell policy to allow for medical and scientific breakthroughs in fighting disease and he is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701104.html">cancelling </a>Bush "conscience" exemptions that give medical and pharmacy workers an unfettered right to deny help to patients on religious grounds.</p>
<p>Administration Appointments: A-<br />
President Bush looked to the far right to fill many of his administration posts. President Obama is looking in a different direction. For example, Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to be a vast improvement on civil rights and civil liberties over predecessors John Ashcroft (now <a href="http://www.regent.edu/acad/schgov/faculty/ashcroft_bio.htm">a teacher </a>at TV preacher Pat Robertson's law school) and Alberto Gonzales. We suspect the Holder Department of Justice will not be <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/04/08/scandal_puts_spotlight_on_christian_law_school/">shamelessly stacked </a>with Regent graduates and other right-wing ideologues as it was under Bush.</p>
<p>There are lots of other great appointments, so I won't try to name them all. But I will point to one: I'm delighted to see <a href="http://www.opm.gov/About_OPM/ExecutiveTeam/JohnBerry.asp">John Berry,</a> a talented, openly gay man as head of the Office of Personnel Management. Bush filled that slot with <a href="http://www.opm.gov/news/bios/director.asp">Kay Coles James</a>, a former vice president of the Family Research Council and dean of Regent University's school of government. What a difference!</p>
<p>My only quibble here is Obama's handling of the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. I know it's an obscure post, but it grates on my nerves that the Vatican seems to be imposing a religious test on possible appointees. News <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/14/vatican-vetoes-obama-nominees-abortion">sources say </a>the Vatican insists that the U.S. ambassador cannot be a Catholic who supports reproductive rights or presumably disagrees with church doctrine in other ways.</p>
<p>If true, and there are a number of media reports that suggest it is, it's an outrage. We shouldn't have diplomatic ties with a church at all. But if we're going to, the U.S. ambassador should be selected on the basis of ability, not conformity to any church's religious doctrines. (How about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan">Andrew Sullivan</a>? Hee, hee.)</p>
<p>Judicial Appointments: A<br />
Obama is off to a great start in his selection of judicial picks. His first appellate court selection, David Hamilton of Indiana, is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/17/AR2009031703031.html">a solid judge</a> with a strong record on civil liberties. If for no other reason, you can tell he's a great guy just because the Religious Right is waging <a href="http://www.earnedmedia.org/cwa04281.htm">a relentless war </a>on him.</p>
<p>During his eight years in the White House, Bush attempted to stack the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, with right-wingers in a bid to undermine church-state separation and roll back civil rights and civil liberties generally. (Think Sam Alito, William Pryor and Janice Rogers Brown.) We hope Obama seeks dramatic change in the federal judiciary in upcoming years.</p>
<p>Faith-Based Initiative: Incomplete<br />
I guess nobody does well in every subject at schools. I always struggled with math. Obama's "math" is the "faith-based" initiative. He's just not doing as well as he should in this subject.</p>
<p>His creation of an "Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Initiatives" is a mistake. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Additional-Members-of-Advisory-Council-on-Faith-Based-and-Neighborhood-Partnerships/">Some of the appointees </a>on the council are great, and some are awful. But there shouldn't be a council at all. We don't see how a presidential advisory group composed of religious leaders (and the vast majority of the council members are) can be squared with the separation of church and state.</p>
<p>And just as troubling, the president has delayed action on overturning the Bush administration's deplorable executive orders allowing publicly funded "faith-based" agencies to discriminate on religious grounds in hiring. Bush enthusiastically pushed for faith-based job bias and celebrated faith-based groups that use conversion and indoctrination as their preferred forms of social service. Obama needs to correct that situation, and the sooner the better.</p>
<p>Overall grade: Incomplete, but heading in a really positive direction.</p>
<p>That's my take. What do you think?</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/judicial-nominations">Judicial Nominations</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alberto-gonzales">Alberto Gonzales</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/andrew-sullivan">Andrew Sullivan</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bush-conscience-rule">Bush conscience rule</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-hamilton">David Hamilton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/eric-holder">Eric Holder</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/faith-based-initiative">faith-based initiative</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/first-100-days">First 100 days</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/holy-see">Holy See</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/courts">In the Courts</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-ashcroft">John Ashcroft</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-berry">John Berry</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kay-coles-james">Kay Coles James</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mexico-city-policy">Mexico City policy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/regent-university">Regent University</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-and-politics">Religion and politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-vouchers">school vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/stem-cell-research">stem-cell research</a></span></div></div>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:23:16 +0000Joseph L. Conn1565 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-first-100-days-president-obamas-scorecard-on-church-and-state#commentsNaval Maneuvers: Ex-Chaplain Admits He's Not All He Appeared To Behttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/naval-maneuvers-ex-chaplain-admits-hes-not-all-he-appeared-to-be
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">AU and MRFF sent a letter to naval officials, asking them to investigate this matter and tell Klingenschmitt he must stop implying that he&#039;s still a naval chaplain.
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Over the past few years, Americans United has sparred with Gordon James Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain with a penchant for <a href="http://blog.au.org/2007/04/05/a-matter-of-honor-the-truth-comes-out-about-former-chaplain-klingenschmitt/">Religious Right grandstanding</a>.</p>
<p>Klingenschmitt, then still in the service, ran into problems two years ago when he defied orders to use nonsectarian prayers at military events where people from many different faith perspectives would be present. He later sealed his fate by speaking at a Religious Right rally wearing his uniform – a violation of military regulations.</p>
<p>Navy officials, deciding they had no use for a chaplain would not obey orders, informed Klingenschmitt that his services were no longer required. Refusing to resign, Klingenschmitt insisted on a court martial. He was duly court martialed and drummed out of the service.</p>
<p>We at Americans United were surprised, therefore, to receive copies of an e-mail Klingenschmitt issued recently promoting his new right-wing political Web site <a href="http://www.prayinjesusname.org/">www.prayinjesusname.org.</a> On the site, Klingenschmitt referred to himself as "Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt," and included a large picture of himself in a naval uniform. The e-mail and the Web site implored people to oppose President Barack Obama's nomination of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.</p>
<p>It's likely anyone unfamiliar with Klingenschmitt's history who received this e-mail or visited the site would assume he was an active-duty chaplain. In fact, some people who sent the message to AU thought just that.</p>
<p>Out in New Mexico, Mikey Weinstein of the <a href="http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/">Military Religious Freedom Foundation (</a>MRFF) knew something wasn't right. Federal law prohibits misuse of military uniforms. It appeared that Klingenschmitt was attempting to depict himself as an active-duty military chaplain to raise money and recruit people for his right-wing group – a violation of federal law.</p>
<p>Last week, AU and MRFF sent <a href="http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/au-mrff-joint-press-release.pdf?docID=4101">a letter to naval officials</a>, asking them to investigate this matter and tell Klingenschmitt he must stop implying that he's still a naval chaplain.</p>
<p>Klingenschmitt recently responded to AU and MRFF. On his Web site, he accuses Weinstein of also violating military regulations – because MRFF's site contains an archival photo of Mikey as an Air Force cadet more than 30 years ago!</p>
<p>AU is also accused of violating the same law because in 2005, we ran a stock photo of the Air Force Academy on the cover of Church &amp; State to illustrate a story I wrote about religious tensions there. (I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either.)</p>
<p>But here's the interesting news: Klingenschmitt's Web site now contains <a href="http://www.prayinjesusname.org/disclaimer">a disclaimer admitting </a>that he is a former naval chaplain, that his views do not represent those of the Navy and that the photo of him in uniform is not current.</p>
<p>Perhaps Klingenschmitt believes AU and MRFF have a point after all. Otherwise, why all the changes?</p>
<p>Klingenschmitt can lash out at AU and MRFF and call our actions whatever he likes. I have my own term for what we've done: "Mission accomplished."</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-hamilton">David Hamilton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gordon-klingenschmitt">Gordon Klingenschmitt</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/military-religious-freedom-foundation">Military Religious Freedom Foundation</a></span></div></div>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:52:13 +0000Rob Boston1975 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/naval-maneuvers-ex-chaplain-admits-hes-not-all-he-appeared-to-be#commentsJudge Not?: Religious Right Attacks Obama's First Judicial Nomineehttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/judge-not-religious-right-attacks-obamas-first-judicial-nominee
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Religious Right smear machine is operating on full power.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>U.S. District Judge David Hamilton has been <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMU8pZTTBJh7FF0jgF3WNjxztQAgD9701RIO0">nominated</a> by President Barack Obama to a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and will face the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow. The Religious Right smear machine is operating on full power.</p>
<p>According to March 17 <a href="http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA09C31">e-mail alert</a> from Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Hamilton is guilty of "hostility to good law on issues of life and faith." A few days later, Perkins <a href="http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA09C55#WA09C55">told supporters</a>, "Confirming him to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals would be a grave setback for the culture of life and all who cherish constitutional restraint. We cannot stress the urgency of this nomination enough."</p>
<p>Perkins is hardly alone. The American Center for Law and Justice <a href="http://www.aclj.org/news/ReadWR.aspx?ID=3247">accuses Hamilton</a> of being an extremist on abortion rights and says he is "entirely out-of-step with the opinion of the majority of Americans."</p>
<p>The Christian Coalition is <a href="http://www.cc.org/blog/leftwing_activist_judge_obama039s_first_judicial_pick">worked up</a> as well, branding Hamilton a "judicial activist judge hostile to Christianity and a radical on abortion."</p>
<p>Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America said, "Hamilton's decisions reveal a deep disrespect for the Constitution and overinflated view of his own opinion." Jonathan Falwell called the nomination, "a tragic move on our President's part."</p>
<p>What did Hamilton do to deserve such scorn?</p>
<p>In 2005, he ruled that the Indiana House of Representatives must stop opening its sessions with prayers that were almost exclusively Christian. Hamilton had the temerity <a href="http://blog.au.org/2005/12/08/indiana_assembl/">to point out</a> that government has no business sponsoring a certain type of religious worship and referred to a 1983 Supreme Court ruling permitting legislative prayer as long as it is non-sectarian.</p>
<p>Hamilton also believes that a woman should have the right to choose an abortion under certain circumstances without having to first jump through a series of patronizing hoops, a stance codified by the Supreme Court in 1973.</p>
<p>Religious Right groups do not like these rulings, so they have resorted to their usual trick – character assassination. Several have labored hard to tie Hamilton to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a community-based group that emerged as leading right-wing bugbear during the 2008 election. The Christian Coalition, for example, referred to Hamilton as a "fund-raiser" for ACORN.</p>
<p>In fact, as my friend Steve Benen pointed out on <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017358.php">his blog</a>, Hamilton worked for the group soliciting donations for the grand total of one month in 1979 – when he was 22 years old and preparing to graduate from college.</p>
<p>Religious Right groups will use the Hamilton nomination to boost their profiles and raise money. It's unlikely they will be able to derail the nomination. Few Americans share the far right's obsession with ACORN, and Hamilton has been rated "well qualified" by the American Bar Association. This first battle over a judicial nominee is important, as it will likely set the tone for what is to come.</p>
<p>There are currently 15 vacancies on federal appeals courts around the country. I'm hoping Obama's future appointments annoy the Religious Right as much as this one has.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/judicial-nominations">Judicial Nominations</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-center-law-and-justice-aclj">American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-coalition">Christian Coalition</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-hamilton">David Hamilton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/FRC">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span></div></div>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:22:24 +0000Rob Boston1966 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/judge-not-religious-right-attacks-obamas-first-judicial-nominee#comments